Campaign for the American Reader: Nine great thrillers featuring alter egos

Saul A. Lelchuk holds a B.A. in English from Amherst College and a master's degree from Dartmouth College. He divides his time between Oakland, California and New Hampshire,

where he teaches graduate creative writing at Dartmouth. He has served as a PEN America Prison Writing Mentor and makes regular appearances discussing fiction writing around the country.

Save Me From Dangerous Men was the start of a series featuring bookseller and private investigator Nikki Griffin. The series was optioned for film and television and has been published in translations around the world. Save Me From Dangerous Men was named a USA Today Best Book of 2019, a Booklist Top 10 Crime Debut of 2019, a Kirkus Best Mystery/Thriller of 2019, a Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year, and was short-listed for a Barry Award.

The sequel, One Got Away, was named as a “5 Books Not to Miss” by USA Today and was published in April 2021.

At CrimeReads Lelchuk tagged nine favorite thrillers featuring alter egos, including:

The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith

It would be an egregious omission if I didn’t include one of the most iconic alter egos out there: Tom Ripley. In the first of the series, Patricia Highsmith introduces us to her con man and murderer extraordinaire. Charming but bland, attractive yet unassuming, likeable and forgettable—this is Ripley’s meticulously curated exterior. This mask hides a rather sociopathic personality with a hellbent willingness to opportunistically take what he wants, regardless of who he hurts (or worse) in the process. Fittingly, Ripley also shows himself to be a man of supreme ambivalence in all matters—sexually, morally, vocationally. Yet despite his many proven talents, we wonder whether his chameleon nature will catch up to him eventually.